Waikiki Aloe

Photo by David Croxford

When Valerie Lamoureux, owner of Waikiki Aloe, opened her shop in 1980, she was focused on beauty and after-sun treatments. But as rents skyrocketed, she needed to supplement sales. “So I put in a few Crocs, and the rest is history,” she says. Her store now carries 14 styles, in every color, in sizes from 2 (for an 8-month-old) to XXXX (a men’s 14 or 15). Lamoureux says the Crocs are popular because “there are a lot of people out there with tired, sore feet. Every day, we have people throw their old shoes away in our waste basket and walk out in their new ones.” The store also sells hundreds of Jibbitz—those little decorations that plug into the Crocs’ holes. “We have every kind of fish, breed of dogs, all the Disney characters.” Our favorite? The teensy hotdog Jibbitz.